1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to swing training systems and, more particularly, to a tethered ball assembly facilitating the practice of a variety of sport swings.
2. History of the Prior Art
In the sports of tennis, golf, racquetball, baseball and the like it is imperative for the player to practice his or her swing and to develop efficient hand/eye coordination. The most appropriate practice for such hand/eye coordination is the repetitive swinging of the appropriate racket, bat or club along a planned trajectory. Often such practice is facilitated simply by repetitive striking of individual ones of multiple balls used in the particular sporting activity.
In the game of tennis, for example, it is quite conventional to use a plurality of tennis balls held in an upstanding ball hopper. The upstanding hopper is disposed adjacent the player to permit the player easy access to the balls for repetitive practice in hitting of the balls. Unfortunately, when the balls are struck, they are dispersed and must be collected and reassembled in the hopper for subsequent use. The same holds true in the game of golf. Golf balls are normally rented in baskets for placement of individual ones of the balls upon tees or on the ground of a driving range. The balls are driven outwardly on the range to allow the golfer the flexibility of practicing a full golf swing. Again, the golf balls are randomly distributed about the driving range in accordance with the precision by which they were struck. The retrieval of the golf balls thus becomes a major task, albeit one for which driving ranges are generally well suited.
In the game of baseball, batting practice may be accomplished through the use of batting machines or the like. Again hand/eye coordination is critical, and it is necessary to repeatedly practice swinging the bat along the appropriate trajectory in order to enable the player to become accomplished at this particular endeavor. Once struck, the baseball is, of course, driven outwardly away from the user and must be retrieved for subsequent use.
It would be an advantage to provide a swing training system facilitating the practice of sport swings by a user. Such a training system would need to overcome the main disadvantage of prior art practice devices by eliminating the random distribution of miscellaneous balls requiring secondary pickup operations. The present invention provides such a system by facilitating the multiple use of a single ball disposed beneath a conventional basketball hoop. In this manner, batting and swinging practice can be accomplished in conventional sporting areas where basketball hoops are available for the user.